


Advent calendar

by gilleoni



Category: The Fall (TV)
Genre: Christmas, Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-01
Updated: 2015-12-24
Packaged: 2018-05-04 09:18:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 8,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5328848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gilleoni/pseuds/gilleoni
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What are Stella and Reed up to during Christmas time?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Advent calendar

**Author's Note:**

> This is my response to this advent calendar project: http://forum.fanfiktion.de/t/35347/1 -  
> I might not be able to write all 24 prompts, but I'll try!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt:  
> Opening the first window of the advent calender. What kind of calendar is it, and do both have one?

**1\. December**

"Mommy, mommy!" Sleepily, Stella’s eyes open and she feels Tanya stir in her arms as well. She untangles herself from her girlfriend just as Soni and Diana burst into the room and hop onto the bed. They’re giggling excitedly and for a second, Stella is worried that it’s already Christmas morning and she forgot it.

“Can we open our advent calendars now?”, Diana asks, looking expectantly at Stella and Reed. They nod almost simultaneously as Stella sits up and swings her legs out of the bed.

"Come on you two, let’s see what’s in there, shall we?” The girls immediately jump off the bed and follow Stella out the door, giggling excitedly.

Reed sighs as she pulls the covers back and gets up herself, admittedly relieved to have a few seconds to herself before beginning her day.

When she gets downstairs, Soni and Diana already have small chocolate stains on their cheeks. Shaking her head, Reed looks at Stella, who smiles apologetically but doesn’t seem sorry at all. In fact, Reed realizes, the first window on Stella’s calendar is already open as well. “You insisted on getting them”, Stella giggles, a piece of chocolate still in her mouth, “Now you have to live with the consequences.”


	2. Stress at work

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt:  
> Leisurely Christmas time? Your pairing experiences stress at work.

**2\. December**

Stella can’t remember even having to fill out this much paperwork in her entire life. As the end of the year draws close, there seem to be a thousand different forms and reports to fill out, and she starts to regret not doing them before.

With a sigh, Stella leans back and runs her fingers through her hair. She briefly considers taking a break, maybe visiting Reed at the morgue, but quickly thinks the better of it. She needs to get these forms filled out and she needs to fill them out now – her concentration already is crumbling. Just as she begins to sort through the mess of paper scattered across the desk, there’s a knock on the door.

“Come in”, Stella calls, wondering how she’s ever going to get the paperwork done with these constant interruptions. To her surprise, it’s not Eastwood with more forms to fill out or Burns with more trial dates and other appointments, not even Dani who’s just checking in.

Instead, it’s Reed who peeks into her office. “Hey.” As she comes in and closes the door behind her again, she holds up a white paper bag. “I know you’re busy, but I just wanted to drop off some snacks for you.” Stella smiles at her words, charmed by Reed's concern for her. They sit on the small couch together, the bag resting on Reed’s lap.

“I’m not hungry”, Stella tries half-heartedly, but knows that Reed won’t let her off that easily. So she simply lets Reed pull out two bagels and accepts the one offered to her, taking a small bite. Only now does she begin to realize how hungry she actually is, and she sees Reed smile as she quickly takes another bite.


	3. Advent wreath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt:  
> Advent wreath - buy one or decorate it themselves - what does your pairing do?

**3\. December**

“Stella, can we decorate it ourselves?”, Diana asks, tugging at Stella’s sleeve as they search the aisles at the supermarket for an advent wreath. They’re a little behind on that front, mostly because the girls stayed with their father the past weekend and Stella convinced Reed to stay in instead of going shopping. Now that Reed sent her to buy one because it’s her fault they don’t have one yet, Stella realizes that it might have been a mistake to not get one earlier. Especially because Diana didn’t like any of those few they have seen so far. “Sure, sweetie, if we find one”, Stella finally answers, taking the girl’s hand in hers.

An hour later, Stella is desperately trying to somehow secure the last candle to the otherwise undecorated wreath, Diana and Soni waiting next to her, ready to decorate it. It’s already taken her five minutes with each of the other candles, but this last one seems to prove even tougher than the first three. She’s thinking about giving up and trying again tomorrow when Reed gets up from her spot on the couch where she’s been reading some medical journal, an amused smile forming on her face as she watches Stella struggle with the candle. “You need help?” It’s really more of a statement than a question, but Stella still shakes her head, moving to try again.

Reed is by her side quickly, gently taking the candle out of her hand. “Move over.” This time, Stella complies, and in mere seconds, Reed has the candle secured and hands the wreath to the girls to decorate.

“Are you kidding me?”, Stella asks, getting up and crossing her arms over her chest. “You knew how to do that all along?”

Reed wraps her arms around Stella’s neck and smiles apologetically, resting her forehead against Stella’s. “I’m sorry, but maybe next time you’ll think about that before keeping me in bed all day!”

Stella grins, uncrossing her arms and pulling Reed closer. “Nah, it was absolutely worth this.”


	4. Mistletoe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt:  
> Kissing under the mistletoe

**4\. December**

Soni and Diana are running ahead, giggling and suddenly eager to get out of the park. They had been pretty persistent about wanting to stay and play with the other kids until Reed had suggested they get pizza for dinner. Now, she and Stella are almost having trouble keeping up with the girls.

“Hey, slow down you two!”, Reed calls as they near the exit, and the girls stop to look at her as she begins to walk faster herself, almost pulling Stella with her. When they reach their daughters, Soni is standing right at the gate of the entrance, looking up. Curious, Stella follows her gaze, smiling at what she sees.

As her eyes land on Reed again, she pulls her closer, slipping an arm around her. Stella meets her surprised gaze with a raise of her eyebrow before pressing her lips to Reed’s, silencing the question she knows Reed was going to ask. She closes her eyes and feels Reed smile into the kiss. When their lips part after what feels like a small eternity to her and she opens her eyes, Reed is smiling brightly. “What was that for?”

“Just see for yourself”, Stella replies, smirking as she looks up again.

Following her gaze, Reed smiles at the sight of the small mistletoe hanging right above them.


	5. Christmas decorations?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt:  
> Christmas decorations - cheesy and annoying or cute and adorable? Your pairing has an argument.

**5\. December**

“Stella?”, Reed calls from the attic, her voice strained as she once again attempts to climb down the ladder with a heavy box up in her arms, trying not to fall down.

“What is it?”, Stella quickly answers, almost running up the stairs as she hears her girlfriend’s somewhat desperate voice. However, when she sees Reed with the box in her arms, she stops dead in her tracks and crosses her arms in front of her chest. “What are you doing?”

Reed sighs. “I’m getting the decorations downstairs. You know, to start decorating. Since it’s already the second advent tomorrow.”

Raising an eyebrow, Stella walks the last few steps down to Reed. “You know what I mean. You promised we’d get new decorations this year!” Stella is pouting and Reed can’t help finding it adorable, her resolve already crumbling. She knows that Stella isn’t particularly fond of their Christmas decorations, but even though Reed tends to find them overly flashy and after sometime, annoying, she can’t quite bring herself to throw them out and buy new ones.

“Stella, can’t we just buy new stuff next year? We still have to buy the presents for the girls, and everyone else, and we’re somehow already behind on the decorating front anyway!” She knows Stella won’t give in, they have already discussed this for the past two years, and every time, Reed had convinced her to put it off until the next year. ‘Not this time’, Stella had warned her last Christmas, and Reed knows she should give in before things got ugly.

While Reed considered her options, Stella had seemingly upped her game and is now giving her a pleading look, still pouting. “Please, Reed? For me?”

“Fine”, Reed sighs, “we’ll get new decorations on Monday. Happy now?”

“Very”, Stella replies, smiling brightly as she climbs up into the attic and hugs Reed, planting a small kiss on her lips. “Thank you”, she whispers, nuzzling her head at Reed’s shoulder.


	6. Saint Nicholas Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt:  
> What does your pairing fill each other's boot with?

**6\. December**

Reed doesn’t even have the alarm clock fully turned off when Stella is already halfway out the door. She smiles and lets herself fall back onto the bed, knowing exactly what Stella is doing. Only when she hears the faint sound of footsteps on the stairs again she gets up, pulls the covers back and folds them, shaking her head at how eager Stella was to get downstairs that she didn’t even bother to do it herself.

When Stella peeks into the room again, Reed has already opened the window to air the room and the cold breeze immediately makes Stella shiver. With an amused smile, Reed watches as Stella puts on her socks and pulls a thick sweater over one of the thin shirts she usually sleeps in.

They silently make their way downstairs again, into the kitchen, and try to not make any noise while preparing breakfast. Quite surprisingly, they actually are fairly quiet, and manage to almost completely set the table before they hear the telltale sound of a creaking bedroom door, followed by two sets of footsteps coming down the stairs.

Diana rubs her eyes as she follows her sister, who is not much more awake, into the kitchen. “Stella, has Saint Nick been here already?”, the younger girl asks, eyes wide as if she were awaiting some kind of huge revelation.

“You wanna go see for yourself?” Diana smiles broadly, suddenly very awake, and grabs Stella’s hand, yanking her out of the kitchen and to the front door. The four boots lined up there are all filled, and Diana’s eyes once again go wide. “Wow”, she says, crouching and picking up her boot before moving to let Soni get hers, too.

Stella watches them with a smile when Reed comes to stand next to her before moving an arm around her, pulling Stella closer to her. “Don’t you wanna see what’s in your boot?”, Reed asks, knowing that Stella is probably just as excited as the girls.

“You know me too well”, Stella giggles and pulls Reed down with her as she crouches, picking up her boot and watching Reed do the same. Under a pile of small chocolates and other sweets, she finally feels something else, something that feels like paper and actually turns out to be just that, printed and held together by a small ribbon with a bow. When she finally manages to decipher the too small writing, she looks at Reed in surprise. “Tickets to ‘Carol’? I thought you didn’t want to see it!”

“I changed my mind”, Reed smiles, “I want to know if you’re actually not going to cry.”

Raising her eyebrows, Stella smiles, quietly letting Reed know that she’s accepting the challenge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this going by the traditions we have here in Germany, I don't know if Saint Nicholas Day is actually celebrated this way in the UK, and if it isn't, let's just assume Stella and Reed have some German friends they picked it up from bc I think it's a very nice tradition :~)


	7. Decorating

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt:  
> The argument is settled, your pairing decorates the house.

**7\. December**

Barely closing the door behind them, Reed sets her box down and stretches as Stella groans beside her. “It’s all your fault we bought so much”, Reed reminds her girlfriend, knowing she is about to complain, eliciting another groan from Stella.

When they have changed into more comfortable clothing and sorted the groceries into the fridge, Stella almost bolts into the living room where they had placed their new Christmas decorations before. Reed follows her at a more leisurely pace and laughs as she sees Stella unpack the different small boxes and packets from the shopping bag and before setting them on the table. It’s all fairly simple, nothing extravagant or flashy, not even the Christmas baubles.

It never really surprised Reed that Stella preferred simple decorations over those cheesy, overly showy ones that Reed had kept from her failed marriage, scoffing every year at how the decorations seemed to represent her ex-husband.

What did surprise Reed, though, was Stella’s excitement for Christmas. As serious as she's on the job, when Christmas comes around Stella turns into a six year-old. And as much as Reed laughs at her for it, she secretly loves to be able to know this side of her.


	8. Family visit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt:  
> (Annoying) relatives or friends come over for tea.

**8\. December**

“Tell my again why your parents are coming over for tea?” Stella is visibly tired, worn out by hours of paperwork, even though she left early.

“Stella, we haven’t seen them in months! You should be grateful it’s just my mom and dad coming over and not my brother or sister with their families!” Reed looks at Stella with a raise of her eyebrow and smiles. “You look great, by the way”, she informs her, letting her eyes wander over Stella’s body as she closes the last button on her blouse and smoothes out her skirt. She is rewarded with a happy smile before she makes her way out of the bedroom to set the table.

The second Stella steps into the kitchen to help Reed bring the biscuits and dishes into the dining room, the doorbell rings and they hear Soni race to the door faster than lightning. “I’ll get it!”, the girl shouts as she passes the kitchen, and Reed reminds her to see who it is first, a habit she has always had.

As Reed follows her daughter to the front door, Stella continues to set the dining table and rearranges the advent wreath in the middle to make room for the biscuits. She hears the voices from the front door coming closer, and she’s still somewhat nervous. Even after three years, it’s still unusual for her to have family coming over after all the years she didn’t have one.

“Stella, how nice to see you!”, Naya Reed greets her when she enters the dining room, followed by her husband, daughter and granddaughters. She hugs Stella and smiles brightly at her before stepping aside to let her husband, Arthur, greet her. He’s far more reserved than his wife but polite as always and shakes Stella’s hand as he asks her how she’s been.

Once everyone has sat down and begins eating, Stella’s nervousness begins to cease. Conversations with Reed’s parents has always been easy, they both can talk a lot but can listen just as well. Soni and Diana are surprisingly quiet but do throw in a few stories of their own, and Stella finds herself relieved to not be the one at the center of attention for once.

When everyone has finished their tea, Diana wants to play a board game, so they all move to the living room where the girls, with Naya’s help, set up a game while Stella and Reed clear the dining room table. “You alright?”, Reed enquires as they load the dishwasher. “Yeah”, Stella tries to answer, but instead yawns before smiling and nodding her head.

It’s late when Naya and Arthur leave and Stella is almost falling asleep on her feet as she walks them to the door with Reed.


	9. Ice skating

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt:  
> Your pairing goes ice skating.

**9\. December**

Reed is watching skeptically from the side while Stella is teaching Diana how to keep her balance on the skates while Soni is already pretty steady on the ice and skates a few rounds by herself.

“Mommy, why aren’t you on the ice?”, Soni asks as she stops next to Reed, barely tall enough to see over the rim of the ice rink.

“I don’t like ice skating, I told you”, Reed reminds her daughter, smiling gently at her. “Why don’t you try to skate a round with your sister?” Nodding obediently, Soni takes off towards Diana and Stella, who have already made it a little further.

After Soni takes Diana’s hand and once Stella is sure they’ll make it on their own, she quickly skates over to Reed, who rolls her eyes when she notices her. “Stella, I’m not going to get on the ice, you know that!”

“Come on”, Stella practically whines, “Just because you twisted your ankle in high school?” Reed furrows her eyebrow and gives her a challenging look. “So what?”

“Please, Reed, just once!” She gives Reed the pleading look she knows she can’t resist but Reed just shakes her head sternly. “Reed, the Diana has been asking non-stop about when she could skate with you! Come on!”

Looking past Stella, Reed catches sight of her daughters, already fairly steady on the ice by now but going at a slow pace. “I can’t, Stella, I’ve probably forgotten how it works by now! And I promised myself I’d never set a foot on the ice again.”

“You don’t just forget how to skate. It’s like riding a bike!”, Stella argues, still looking pleadingly at Reed. “Please, if not for me, do it for Diana?”

As she looks at Soni and Diana again, Reed sighs, and Stella knows she has won.

“Go get your skates”, Stella encourages her, waiting for her to do so, before looking back at Soni, who is giving her a bright smile and a thumbs up.


	10. Snowed in

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt:  
> Snowed in! What does your pairing do?

**10\. December**

When Reed opens the curtains in the morning, the first thing she sees, despite the darkness, is white. It’s not even anything in particular, because literally everything is white. Realization doesn’t quite hit her until she hears Stella behind her squeak: “Did it snow?!” Barely a second later, Stella is standing next to her, tiredness suddenly forgotten, and almost presses her nose against the window. “Look at all that snow!”

Here we go again, Reed thinks to herself, watching Stella transform into an overly excited kid. It warms her heart and she wouldn’t want to miss this side of Stella for anything in the world, but for now, she knows she’ll have to somehow get Stella out of the house.

“Stella, you do remember that we have to go to work, and that the girls have to go to school?”, Reed reminds her, but only gets a raised eyebrow in response. “There’s way too much snow outside, Reed, we won’t get very far”, Stella reasons, still looking outside. “Let’s just go back to bed, honey, we can call work and the girls’ school later.”

It’s Reed’s turn to furrow her brows when she hears the term of endearment, barely used by either of them, but decides to give in when Stella sneaks an arm around her and nuzzles her neck, slightly pulling her towards the bed by the hip.

 

Two hours later, when they wake again, the first rays of sunshine are already leaking into the bedroom, but it’s not what wakes them. Instead, it’s Soni who’s standing in front of their bed, tapping their shoulders. “What is it?”, Stella groans, still sleepy despite the extra sleep. “Stella, it’s already eight a.m., we’re late for school!”

“Don’t worry about it, there’s too much snow, you won’t have to go”, Reed says with a yawn, rubbing her eyes. “Where’s Diana?”

That moment, the door opens a little further and the younger girl steps in, sitting down on the bed. “Will we stay here all day?”

Stella yawns, patting the bed beside her. “Sure, c’mere sweetie. Maybe we can watch a movie later, though”, she suggests, putting an arm around Diana while snuggling closer to Reed, on whose side Soni is laying down and crawling under the covers.

“A very good plan”, Reed agrees.


	11. Christmas party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt:  
> Christmas party.

**11\. December**

It's still fairy early when they arrive back at the station, after Stella picked Reed up from the morgue and they changed at home. Due to the time, there are not that many people gathered in the biggest room of the station, that is once a year used to host a Christmas party. Usually, they are always some of the last to arrive, and they find that it's quite awkward to be one of the first. _They'll go back to being late next year_ , Stella notes to herself, quickly identifying the few colleagues already present as she looks around the room. It actually looks rather inviting, with all the small decorations here and there, the Christmas tree set up in one corner next to the snacks and drinks. The lightning is mostly provided by long chains of lights hanging on the walls, casting the room in a warm glow. There's music playing quietly in the background, and Stella can't remember why she ever didn't want to go to the Christmas party the first time. 

An hour later, though, the room is basically bursting with people and Reed can't find Stella in the crowd. It's times like these that she internally curses her height and Stella's because she can't even look over most of the guests. Suddenly, she sees a flash of red hair a few feet away and knows that where Dani is, Stella isn't far. It's ridiculous to her how these two have become such great friends, but she is nevertheless grateful for it.

Reed finds herself being right - Stella actually is standing right next to Dani, listening intently to Emma, Dani's girlfriend. She's supporting her story with wild gestures of her hands and seems somewhat excited by her own story. From experience, Reed knows Emma won't let herself be interrupted so Reed sneaks up behind Stella and puts her arms around her, resting her head on her shoulder. "I thought I'd lost you in here", she whispers into Stella's ear after smiling slightly to herself that she managed to catch her by surprise.

Placing a light kiss to her girlfriend's forehead, Stella replies: "You'll never lose me."

And Reed knows that they will both do whatever is in their power to keep that promise.


	12. Christmas shopping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt:  
> Christmas shopping with the best friend. Voluntarily? Fun or torture?

**12\. December**

Stella groans as Dani pulls her into yet another small shop that feels like it's the hundredth in an hour. Maybe it is, she doesn't quite know. Every year, it's just like this - Dani takes her shopping for gifts and although in the end, both have everything they need, Stella doesn't ever remember much except for hours of being dragged through countless shops. 

She realizes Dani is looking at handcrafted decorations and lets out another small groan. It's incredible to her how the other woman manages to stay so motivated. Dani is obviously searching for something to give to hers and/or Emma's parents and Stella takes it as her cue to start looking herself. So far, they haven't found much and she already feels herself getting exhausted.

"Look at these!", Dani suddenly exclaims, excitedly pointing at a few small clay figures which Stella realizes actually are cats, all painted in different colors and patterns. "They are so cute, don't you think?"

Nodding reluctantly, Stella picks one of them up, holding it against the light. She has to admit that it actually is cute, and very well done, too.

"Or look at this one here!", Dani suggests, placing another one in her hands after taking the other one from her. The new one consists not of one, but four cats, one big one with light fur and a big one with dark fur, and two small kitten in the middle, all four of them cuddled together.

"It's perfect", Stella breathes, admiring the figure. "Thanks", she says with a smile, looking at Dani again before rushing off towards the counter, exhaustion suddenly gone.

 


	13. Sledging

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt:  
> Your pairing spends a day in the snow.

**13\. December**

Reed and Stella are walking through the park, hand in hand, the snow crunching under their feet. Somewhere ahead of them, Soni and Diana are giggling, trying to play catch while pulling their sledges behind them. There’s a small slope in the park and the girls had been asking to go there ever since the first snow on Thursday. Now, finally, Reed had agreed to go – Stella had been just as excited as the girls to go sledging, which is why she’s pulling her own sledge behind her.

When they arrive at the slope, a few families are already there, and Reed has to remind Soni and Diana as well as Stella to watch out for other sledges while they are climbing up the slope. They have barely made it up that Soni is already sledging down again, Diana following her only seconds later. Stella places her sledge so that it can’t accidentally slide down and sits on it, patting the spot beside her to get Reed to sit next to her.

After a few rounds, when the girls come back up, Diana looks at Stella and Reed, asking: “Are you gonna go sledging too?”

“We could race against each other!”, Soni suggests. Stella nods her agreement as Reed gets up. Once she has rearranged the sledge into the right direction, Stella sits down again while Reed takes a step backwards.

“Oh no, honey”, Stella grins, catching Reed by her hand and pulling her back onto the sledge. “You’re coming with me!” And with that, she pushes the sledge forward with her feet, seeing Soni and Diana do the same from the corner of her eye.

“Stella!”, Reed exclaims, quickly holding onto Stella as they gain speed.

They’re not going incredibly fast but it’s still fast enough to make Reed worry that they might not be able to stop. Her worries are, however, completely unfounded, and she knows that herself. Stella is incredibly good at sledging. 

When they arrive at the bottom of the slope and slowly stop, Reed doesn’t let go of Stella, her arms still wrapped tightly around Stella’s. “You can let go of me now”, the blonde reminds her, an amused smile on her face as she glances at Reed over her shoulder.

“But I don’t wanna”, Reed pouts childishly, leaning forward slightly and pressing her lips to Stella’s.

Only when she feels Diana tap her shoulder does she let go of Stella.


	14. Cozy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt:   
> Cozy day on the couch with cookies and hot chocolate.

**14\. December**

“Here you are”, Stella sighs, handing Reed her hot chocolate before flopping down on the couch beside her. “What are you watching?” 

“Nothing really”, Reed replies, switching the TV off with a shrug. “Why can’t they show any good movies before Christmas?” 

Smiling, Stella pulls the blanket over herself while cuddling closer to Reed. “Other people like them, you know?” Reed makes a face and Stella laughs, patting her knee. “But now, you can spend the afternoon with me, no interruptions, no background noise, except for the logs crackling in the fireplace.” Taking a cookie out of the box on Reed’s lap, Stella smiles at her, raising an eyebrow. 

“Sounds pretty good when you put it like that”, Reed agrees, taking a sip from her hot chocolate. They stay quiet after that, occasionally eating a cookie or sipping on their hot chocolate, snuggled together under the blanket. 

Stella is absentmindedly drawing lazy circles on Reed’s arm when she hears the faint sound of snoring. She looks down onto Reed, who is lying curled up on her side, head resting on Stella’s lap, only to find her asleep. 

It automatically paints a smile onto Stella’s face when she watches her girlfriend sleep, looking so relaxed and at peace. Stroking slightly over Reed’s hair, Stella is suddenly filled with awe at the sight of her. Sometimes, she has these moments, when she, even after three years, still can’t believe that all of this is real. She feels as though she might wake up any moment and find out it was only just a dream. Fortunately, she thinks, that’s never been the case and she hopes it will never be. 

Not long after, she falls asleep to the sound of Reed’s shallow breathing and the knowledge that when she wakes up, Reed will still be there.


	15. Christmas market

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompts:  
> 15; Drinking glühwein with friends / 16; Visiting the Christmas market

**15\. December / 16. December**

Dani and Emma are already waiting when Stella and Reed arrive at their usual meeting point in the city center, having been held up in traffic. It’s still somewhat surprising to her that she’s become such good friends with her colleagues, she thinks, as she hugs Dani and Emma. “When’s Gail coming?”, she inquires, glancing at her watch. They’re already ten minutes late.

“She called a few minutes ago, said it might take her a while”, Dani informs her; “Traffic’s a bitch this time of day, as you might have noticed.” She winks, looking at her own watch. “How about we already get going?”

The others agree and Stella sends Gail a quick text before they make their way towards the Christmas market. The huts are all decorated by colorful chains of lights, shining brightly and illuminating the Belfast night.

There are mostly couples and quite a few families, but as it gets later, the families go home and all that’s left are couples. Still, the carousels and the Ferris wheel are full every round, giggling couples and friends, young and old, seemingly reduced to five year-olds. Gail joins them while Emma and Stella are trying to convince their respective girlfriends to ride the carousel. She’s immediately amused as she realizes what’s going on, knowing fully well by now how much of a child her former boss can be.

Mere five minutes later, they’re all sitting on the carousel, squeezed together onto two bench-like seats, especially Stella afraid to fall off the seat because she’s sitting at the outer end of it. Reed protectively puts an arm around her, holding her tightly. Stella, in turn, nuzzles at her shoulder while gripping her jacket. Fortunately, she doesn’t fall off the carousel, and two rounds later, they all make their way to the next stand that offers glühwein, especially Stella eager to warm up.

When they’re halfway through their first cup of the hot beverage, Gail has to leave for work and seems pretty disappointed – ever since she left Stella’s team to get a promotion in another division, she never gets to spend time with them.

After they’ve finished their drinks, Dani suggests they ride the Ferris wheel, to which Stella, of course, eagerly agrees, and Reed can’t help rolling her eyes at her girlfriend’s excitement. It’s the most adorable thing to see the five year-old side of Stella but it is also slightly ridiculous, especially since she knows her work-persona.

With Stella and Reed cuddled together on one bench and Dani and Emma cuddled together on the one opposite of them, the wagon is fuller than most, but they can’t complain. Although it’s heinously cold, especially up in the air, they’re all warm, thanks to both the alcohol and their respective girlfriends. Reed is fascinated by how small the city and the people seem from the top of the wheel, eyes glued to the ground and amazed by the way the snow sparkles from the light of the stands. Stella, on the other hand, seems less eager to look down – her fear of heights, which mostly surfaces after she’s had anything alcoholic, is incredibly cute, forcing her to clutch at Reed’s jacket while keeping her eyes on the stars in the sky.

Reed, however, lets her eyes rest on her very own star, the one she was lucky enough to catch.


	16. Baking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt:   
> Baking biscuits or gingerbread. Success or disaster?

**17\. December**

Diana’s face is already half covered in flour, as are all of their clothes. And they haven’t even started baking, or rather mixing the different ingredients Stella has been setting up on the kitchen counter following Reed’s instructions. However, as soon as she’d opened the flour, of course a bit had come out, and unfortunately settled on Diana, who had reacted by sticking her fingers into the package and tried to swipe the floor onto Stella’s face as well. The flour war that followed had the entire kitchen look like a winter wonderland and Reed wasn’t certain there was enough flour left. Looking pointedly at Stella, she picks up the recipe again and then picks up the flour package, emptying the rest of its contents into the mixing bowl for weighing.

“I’m sorry”, Stella giggles, trying to get some of the flour out of her clothes and hair, with little success. With an overly dramatic sigh, Reed rolls her eyes at her girlfriend before turning her attention back to the task at hand. It’s barely enough flour, but it’s enough.

While Soni and Diana help Reed mix the ingredients and cut out the biscuits, Stella tries to clean the kitchen from the fine white dust that’s settled everywhere. However, after the girls already have cut out half the dough, Reed finally has mercy on her and informs her that she may continue cleaning later. Stella grins, knowing that later might be a little farther than Reed imagines.

As soon as she sits down and picks out one of the cutters – her favorite one – she goes straight to work, obviously enjoying herself. Baking is a passion that Reed would have never suspected with Stella, and she was fairly surprised when one night, she woke up and found Stella baking in the kitchen, explaining that she couldn’t sleep and how baking helped her calm down. Ever since, Reed has been eager to bake with her, knowing now how much Stella loves it. When they’re alone, they have established their respective roles and Stella keeps everything organized, but as soon as their baking with the girls, Reed has to watch out for Stella more than for Diana or Soni.

 

When the biscuits are baked and set on the counter to cool off, Soni asks; “Can we decorate them?”

“Sure, sweetie”, Reed replies, moving to get chocolate topping and streusel out of a kitchen cabinet. She notices how Stella’s eyes light up as she sees the chocolate, immediately reminding her to not eat it by itself. Nodding obediently, Stella begins to trickle chocolate onto a small biscuit before quickly shoving it into her mouth. Raising her eyebrows, Reed shakes her head. “You’re incorrigible, Stella”, she smiles.

“It wasn’t _only_ chocolate!”, Stella mumbles, grinning.


	17. Tree shopping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt:   
> Buying the Christmas tree.

**18\. December**

Soni is staring wide-eyed at a huge Christmas tree, probably taller than all the others. “Stella, can we get this one?”, she asks excitedly, tugging at Stella’s sleeve. Looking the tree up and down once, she sighs and shakes her head with a smile. “Sweetie, we can’t get one that’s taller than your mom and me!”

“How about this one?”, Reed calls from a few meters away, prompting Stella to take Soni’s hand and make her way over to her girlfriend; “This one?” Reed nods, slipping an arm around Stella’s waist. “It’s nice, don’t you think?”

“Well, what do the two of you think?”, Stella asks Diana and Soni. The girls scrutinize the tree before looking at each other. “I like it”, Diana states, earning a shrug from Soni. “It’s okay…”

Reed raises an eyebrow, glancing around. “Which one do you like better?”

“The tall one over there!”, Soni replies immediately, pointing at the tree she just showed Stella. Reed sniggers, shrugging her shoulders at Stella before explaining to her daughter that they couldn’t carry that one all the way home. It was adorable how Soni offered her help, but after some discussion, she gives up.

It doesn’t take them long after that to decide on the smaller tree Reed had suggested.

When they’ve paid and Stella is carrying the tree to the car in her arms, holding it like a baby, Reed grins and says: “How about we give it a name?” Rolling her eyes, Stella responds: “I’d say we call it Tanya? It’s almost as tall as you!”

“Only if it’s a she then.” Laughing at Reed’s response, Stella nods. “Well then, let’s get her home!”


	18. Decorating the Christmas tree

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt:   
> Let's decorate the Christmas tree, shall we?

**19\. December**

“Be careful”, Reed warns her youngest daughter as she hands her a Christmas bauble to hang on the tree. Nodding eagerly, Diana takes the red bauble and steps towards the tree, looking for a spot to place it. The tree is still bare except for the chain of lights that Stella and Reed had wrestled with, and after some time, successfully secured to it. Reed watches smilingly as Diana studies the tree and finally hangs to bauble in the middle. The red ones are her favorites and it always takes Diana ages to put them all onto the tree but they wait patiently. Soni usually helps her while decorating the tree with her golden baubles. Only after the two of them are done are Reed and Stella allowed to put the remaining decorations on.

It’s not different this year but both women have proven to be quite patient when it was required. So while the girls are happily decorating and discussing which baubles to put where, Stella and Reed are cuddling on the couch, Reed’s head resting on the blonde’s shoulder. They’re sharing the last biscuits they baked two days ago, most of them already eaten.

For a while, it’s quiet in the room, the girls each decorating the tree with their baubles, Stella and Reed enjoying the silence. Suddenly Soni comes up to them and pokes Stella’s arm. Having temporarily dozed off, Stella opens her eyes again, looking questioningly at the girl. “Are you already done?”

“Almost”, Soni answers. “Can you help us get the star on top?”

Another thing that’s become some sort of tradition for them – when the girls are done, Stella has to lift one of them to put the star on top. This year, it’s Soni’s turn after Diana did it last year.

Carefully, Stella slips out from under the blanket to avoid waking Reed who seems to have fallen asleep as well. Then, once she has stretched and Soni has the golden star in her hands, Stella picks the girl up and lifts her, holding her until the star is securely placed on top of the tree.

“There you go”, she says as she lets Soni down again, feeling her back crack slightly when she stands up straight. _I’m getting old_ , she thinks to herself, letting out an ironic laugh at the thought. _Even at ninety, I’ll probably still be hunting down killers_ , she muses, laughing again. She just can’t imagine herself doing anything else. But when she looks at Reed, curled up under a blanket on the couch, she suddenly rethinks that statement. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to settle down for real at some point, to grow old with the person she loves. _Just maybe_ , she thinks.


	19. Thief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt:  
> A quiet Sunday?

**20\. December**

“I’m gonna get you!”, Reed calls to Stella, chasing after her into the living room. After they played board games with the girls yesterday, boxes and pawns are scattered everywhere, and running without tripping certainly isn’t an easy feat. At least not if you want to catch your regularly working out, police officer girlfriend who’s stolen your cooking utensils and is now waving them around while running from you. Reed is certain they’re waking the entire neighborhood, given that it’s only nine on a Sunday morning, but she doesn’t really care anyways. Especially not when she hears Stella’s giggling from a few feet in front of her. She’s having way too much fun running around in her own house, still in her pajamas and barefooted while determinedly chasing after Stella in order to get her frying pan and spoons back.

It’s ridiculous to what lengths Stella is willing to go to get her back into bed, Reed thinks to herself as the blonde ahead of her jumps over the couch and runs towards the stairs. She’s still giggling and Reed can’t help finding it adorable.

She’s not surprised that when she gets up the stairs and into their bedroom, Stella is laying in the middle of the bed, covers partly draped over her, breathing heavily. With a shake of her head, Reed stands in front of the bed, looking sternly down at Stella. “You’re such a child sometimes.”

“Can’t help it”, Stella shrugs, smiling apologetically. “Come back to bed, honey. Please?”

“Where are my spoons and pan?”, Reed asks, raising an eyebrow. Stella only shakes her head. “If I tell you, you won’t come back to bed anyways!”

“I certainly won’t if you don’ t tell me where they are.” The words are barely out of her mouth before Reed is being pulled onto the bed by Stella, landing on her. Immediately pulling her to herself, Stella whispers: “I’ll tell you later if you stay”, before gently nipping at Reed’s earlobe.

Reed knows she’s lost and sighs, nodding her head in defeat. “Alright, but next time, I won’t be as easy!”

“I expect nothing else”, Stella replies with a smirk.


	20. To do

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt:  
> There's still so much to do before Christmas!

**21\. December**

There’s sheer panic written on Reed’s face as she rummages through the drawers in the kitchen, eyebrows knitted in confusion as well as concentration.

“What’s wrong?”, Stella dares to ask, casually leaning against the doorframe. When she doesn’t get an answer, she steps towards Reed who’s kneeling on the floor, frantically searching for something in their stocks. She doesn’t react even when Stella looks over her shoulder and stands so close they almost touch. She does react, however, when Stella pokes her arm lightly. Reed looks up at her, a startled expression on her face. “What is it? Did you say something?”

With a sigh, Stella replies: “I asked what’s wrong.”

“Oh.” Reed looks somewhat lost for a moment before adding: “We seem to have run out of flour, because you had to initiate yet another flour war, and I also can’t find the recipe for those cupcakes you wanted to make and we still have to clean the house before Christmas and the girls’ presents need to be wrapped!” Reed sighs and runs her hand through her hair before hiding her face in her hands. “Why is Christmas so stressful every year?”

“I don’t know”, Stella says, shrugging her shoulders. “But what I do know is that I pinned the recipe to the board and that we can go to the shop tomorrow to get the last things we need. The presents won’t run away and we can wrap them together later and cleaning the house is not that hard.” She has taken Reed into her arms, playing with her hair while stroking her back lightly, her voice soothing. The last few days before Christmas, Reed always freaks out. Stella knows it by now, knows how to react and how to calm her down. 

She holds her for a few minutes, knowing well that Reed is over her panic by now and simply enjoys their closeness, but it’s not as though Stella could object to that.

Finally, when Reed begins to loosen her hold on Stella’s waist, the blonde lets her go, smiling at her. “So, what do you wanna do first?”


	21. Waiting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt:  
> Last time Christmas shopping.

**22\. December**

“Oh God”, Stella groans, pushing their shopping cart forward slowly, careful not to roll over any feet. Reed is busy scanning the shelves for milk which proves quite difficult, given her height and the amount of people there. It reminds them both why they had wanted to buy everything last week but per usual, there were quite a few things they had forgotten. 

So now, they have to find everything they need while the entire shop’s shelves are almost empty because it seems that half the population of Belfast and its surrounding areas has decided to buy in this one shop.

“Is there anything else we need besides milk or have we got everything else?”, Reed asks, looking over Stella’s shoulder to read the shopping list she’s holding. With a shake of her head, Stella replies: “I think we have everything else. Thank God!”

Reed can’t help but laugh at Stella’s relieved groan. “Don’t worry, we’ll be out of here soon enough.” 

It does take them a while to find the milk, but finally, they’re pushing the cart towards the check-out. Only then do they realize that the queues are incredibly long and Stella lets out another small, exasperated groan, one of those she’s been making almost non-stop since they entered the shop. 

“Relax”, Reed tries to soothe her, taking her hand in hers and entwining their fingers while they queue up. 

Resting her head on Reed’s shoulder, Stella sighs. “Please promise me we won’t have to do this again next year”, she whispers, looking pleadingly at Reed.

“Let’s hope so”, she replies, laying her head on Stella’s. Suddenly, it doesn’t seem quite as bad to wait.


	22. Last-minute

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt:  
> Oh damn, one of them forgot the other's present!

**23\. December**

It’s still early when Reed is already awake, unable to fall asleep again. So she gets up quietly, careful not to wake Stella from her sleep, and walks downstairs. After she’s started the coffee machine, she feels the need to do something and decides to start wrapping the presents for the girls. She remembers that Stella offered to do it with her but then again, she knows how crazy it drives Stella when she has to fiddle with the wrapping paper and ribbons. So she climbs up the small ladder to the attic where she and Stella had decided to store the presents, but just as she’s getting out the gift wrap and is about to kneel down next to the small pile of boxes and not packaged presents, it suddenly hits her. 

“Shit!”, she mutters, eyes widening at the realization that she forgot to get her girlfriend’s present. “You’re such an idiot”, she groans to herself as she’s already contemplating her options. She can’t just leave, that’s obvious, but waking Stella and telling her she’s got to get something would just lead to Stella questioning her about it. And she can’t tell Stella she forgot to get her present. Actually, she already has something for her, but she doesn’t have it here yet. She decided to order that something online and had it sent to Dani so that Stella wouldn’t accidentally see it while opening their mail. 

Then, however, she forgot to get them from Dani’s place and now, she doesn’t know what to do. Didn’t Dani mention she was going to see her parents over Christmas? What if she was already gone?

Panic surges through her as she almost falls back down the ladder and grabs her phone from the night stand before running out again, not wanting to wake Stella, especially now. While the phone rings and she prays to God that Dani will pick up, she pours herself a cup of coffee, grateful and somewhat surprised that it doesn’t spill. 

On the fourth ring, Dani’s sleepy voice answers: “Reed? You know what time it is?”

“Believe me, I do, but I just noticed that I forgot to pick up Stella’s present – could you bring it over?” Again, she prays silently, begging whoever may hear her for Dani to agree. 

“How quick do you need them?”, Dani asks, all of a sudden sounding wide-awake. Reed lets out a relieved sigh, closing her eyes shortly before replying: “I don’t know, Stella is still asleep. Could you come over now?”

She hears Dani groan on the other end of the line. “Sure, I’ll be over in ten.”

“Thank you”, Reed breathes, “But please don’t ring!”

“I won’t”, Dani chuckles in response before ending the call. Reed almost does a joyful leap when she puts down the phone.


	23. Christmas Eve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt:  
> How does your pairing spend Christmas?

**24\. December**

“Stella? When can we hang our stockings up?” Diana’s eyes are wide as if she were waiting for some kind of magical reveal, looking up at Stella. 

“Right before you go to bed”, Stella says, smiling. “Just like last year.” 

Reed comes back into the kitchen, smiling knowingly at her daughter before looking at her girlfriend, who’s busy mixing the dough for the cupcakes she so desperately wanted to bake. They’re preparing everything for tomorrow, Reed’s been keeping them all fairly busy with all kinds of instructions – do this, get that, help me out here… 

By six o’clock, everything is done, and at seven, they’re all sitting in the living room after dinner, Diana almost asleep on Reed’s lap and Soni curled up at Stella’s side. Stella is reading the girls a story from their favorite Christmas book, one about a family of mice. She finds it pretty adorable herself and reads it to them every year before Christmas. 

When she closes the book, Soni is struggling to keep her eyes open and Diana has fallen into a light slumber. Reed is resting her head on Stella’s shoulder and Stella herself feels her eyelids getting heavy as well. The sound of the crackling fire is only accompanied by the rustling of the blanket draped over them and an occasional snore from Diana. It’s been an exhausting day, heck, an exhausting year, Stella thinks, but she couldn’t be more grateful. She carefully places the book behind her and runs her now free hands through Reed’s hair. “Don’t fall asleep yet, honey”, she whispers quietly, smiling when Reed slowly opens her eyes to look at her. 

They wake the girls and help them hang their stockings next to the fireplace, Diana’s eyes glowing with excitement as she wonders out loud about what Santa might bring them.

Once the girls are in bed, Stella and Reed return to the couch, cuddling closely together. The fire is beginning to die down and soon it’s barely crackling anymore, the room illuminated by the lights on the Christmas tree. It’s getting harder and harder for both Reed and Stella to keep their eyes open, exhaustion creeping over them. 

“Merry Christmas”, Stella whispers to Reed, softly kissing her forehead. The only response she gets is soft breathing and she realizes that Reed has fallen asleep. Smiling to herself, she closes her eyes as well, letting sleep wash over her. She knows that they will have to fill the girls’ stockings later, but for now, that can wait. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I can't believe I actually finished this.  
> I just want to thank all of you who have read this and stuck with me for the time, you don't know how grateful I am for that.  
> Special thanks to those of you who took their time to leave a comment, I appreciate that a lot.
> 
> Merry Christmas, everyone!!!


End file.
